Cracka Cracka Boom
by Masika
Summary: Aurikku warning! Once again, fluff, slightly bad puns and a major OOC Auron abounds. Chapter 8! And about time, too.
1. Cracka Cracka Boom

Cracka Cracka Boom  
  
  
  
"Aieeeee!"  
  
I couldn't quite help the scream that escaped my lips. Alright, alright. Whatever. So what if I'm a crybaby who's scared of thunder? Well, everyone is scared of something. I just happen to be...more verbal about my fears. Yeah. That works.  
  
I hit the ground of the thunder plains with a smack and wiggled my way over to Tidus, clutching his leg. He looked at me with a funny expression on his face. Auron scowled slightly.  
  
"Please, please! Can we find somewhere to rest for a while...? I'm scared...of thunder."  
  
"We must hurry through," Auron protested.  
  
"I agree," Lulu said quietly.  
  
"No, no no! Please? Yunie?"  
  
"We had best continue," Yuna said slowly. "I'm sorry, Rikku."  
  
I nodded slowly and crawled up Tidus's leg, clutching onto his chest. Auron glowered at me some more.  
  
"You really should stop being so childish," he scolded.  
  
I stuck my tongue out at him. "Meanie."  
  
We continued walking, or, more accurately, running like the fast and the furious. We took sanctuary and breaks to catch our breath underneath the thunder obelisks. I sagged against the one we were resting at now, the shop where I knew I could get them to rest just up ahead. I hugged my knees to my chest, trying to stop from shaking. It wasn't working very well.  
  
Auron came to sit beside me, and I was surprised, to say the least. He looked at me with his eye, and the one with the scar through it would have regarded me blandly, I was sure. I tried not to think of it as creepy.  
  
"Why do you fear thunder?" he asked me.  
  
I jumped, that time not from the thunder. Auron, asking me about my fears? Twilight zone central.  
  
"Um...it's kind of a long story," I said cautiously.  
  
"I see. You should speak of your fears to help you release them, you know."  
  
"And what about you?" I demanded of him. What did he think he was doing, schooling me like I was just a kid? Of course I knew speaking of things helped with them. Really. "I don't see you strutting around talking about what you're scared of."  
  
"Hmph."  
  
I watched as Auron stood and left to rejoin the others, now preparing to make a few minute pit stop at the shop. I hopped up and jogged quickly over to the others, not at all wanting a bolt to come my way. Whoever invented thunder and lightly should die, really. I mean, who wants to just zap things for fun, you know? Gods these days. Honestly.  
  
Despite my not wanting to get struck by a lightning bolt, one came my way anyway. Did Ixion make those things? Damn that horse anyway. The bolt zapped the ground less than two inches from my toes, and I let out a little shriek, lost my balance, fell on my butt, and got zapped by another one.  
  
I heard Auron chuckle from a distance and I couldn't stop the homicidal thoughts that entered my electrified brain. Poison, decapitation, beating the living daylights out of him...oh, so many choices. I gasped as I caught myself with these thoughts and smacked my forehead. Innocent Al Bhed girls do NOT go around killing legendary guardians.  
  
I quickly regained my footing and started walking in circles, hoping my constant movement would stop any further attempts of the electrified Ixion to zap a bolt down my shorts. Ixion, once again, proved to have wonderful aim, and I fell over. This time, however...  
  
I landed on Auron.  
  
I screamed once more as I fell, feeling even more like a big baby. Well, maybe not big. But a baby nonetheless. I caught the man off guard which caught me off guard, and we both tumbled to the ground of the thunder plains. I yelped, currently only thinking of what would happen if I got shocked again, and stood up, running like lightning to the door of the small Al Bhed shop.  
  
It was only later that the events caught up with me, when I was sitting in my room at the shop. Auron had been compassionate to me, something I had never seen him do before. And, when I landed on him...  
  
Landed on him?  
  
I gasped, sitting bolt upright in bed. Landed...on him. On. On top. I slapped myself on the cheek, trying to clear my thoughts, and not let the sneaky wisps of thinking slither into my head about how he had looked at me, the feeling of...  
  
Oh, never mind. I chided myself about brooding over men when it was useless anyway. Well, unless they were your brother. Entirely different story there.  
  
A stripe of white lightning blasted the ground just outside my window, and I let out a scream. The windows rattled from the vibrations, and one cracked a little. I started to shake, huddling into my blankets. I guess about five minutes passed before a soft knock came on the door to my room, and I jumped. Who would be bothering me at THIS time of night? Er, morning? It had to be morning by now.  
  
"Uh, er, come in?" I asked, my voice sounding childish. I cursed it silently.  
  
The door creaked open and I heard the sound of boots on the floor as the door creaked shut again. I didn't hear much else until I felt the depression on the bed, and my still sleepy and weak body leaned toward it, inadvertently falling into Auron's arms.  
  
...Auron...  
  
...AURON?!  
  
I let out a little yelp and backed my head up, making sure it was indeed Auron who was sitting on my bed holding me. It was.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked me softly, his arms lax, ready to let me go if I wished.  
  
"Um, er, um, yeah, I, uh, I think so," I stammered, much to my dismay, like an idiot. I was sure I sounded like the driver of the Shoopuf.  
  
He patted me on the back, and I figured that was just about as much sympathy as I would ever get from him. He stood, preparing to return to his own room, and turned to smile at me. I smiled back, although by that time, he was already out the door.  
  
The smile stayed on my lips through the night, and I didn't scream at the lightning anymore.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
  
  
I was scared to walk in the place, it looked so fragile.  
  
The forest of Macalania I was hesitantly standing in at the moment seemed like it would shatter at the merest whisper of a ghost. A forest of crystal and the purest of magic, butterflies danced and fairies sang and sparkled with their surreal light. Oh, yes, I was afraid to move.  
  
But move I did anyway. I was too grateful of Ixion not shooting lightning bolts down my shorts for my awe to last long, no matter how impressive the forest was. Tysh ed, I wanted to get up and move!  
  
Standing slowly so as to not wake the others (whom had recently gone out like lights) I wandered around the ever-twilight surroundings. I let my hand glide alone the "trees" and come away bathed in an other worldly dust that might as well have come from the Farplane.  
  
I heard footfalls behind me, and was, for once, grateful that the crystal on the forest floor prevented any silent walkers. I turned slowly, still examining my now shining hands, feigning disinterest at the now approaching Auron. I hope he saw right through me.  
  
"The fayth are a lot like this," Auron said slowly, sitting down on a nearby flat crystal of twilight blue that shimmered just like everything else. "Surreal. Like a dream."  
  
"Maybe...it would be better if all of this were a dream," I said thoughtfully, not sure where this was going and not sure what had gotten into me. "It hurts that something this beautiful and terrible can exist."  
  
"How is the forest terrible?"  
  
I shook my head. He knew what I meant and we both were aware of the fact. What if the entire pilgrimage, and all of Spira, were only a dream? A dream of, say, Tidus, in his long lost Zanarkand. Maybe it would be better that way, so Yunie and all the other summoners could live, and Sin wouldn't exist, and the people would be happy...Even if it were only until Tidus woke up. Even then. It would be worth it.  
  
Auron sighed wistfully. I went over and gave him a hug, letting him know that I couldn't agree more. Forlornly, we both stood and headed back to camp. I knew I would cry if I said anything else, I felt so strongly against this pilgrimage. I don't think Auron would have cried, but if he did, I would have been his shoulder to cry on. His pillar of faith, had he the need of one.  
  
A pillar of faith...we all needed one.  
  
When we returned to camp, Tidus and Yuna were also back, both soaked. I struggled to hide the laughter that bubbled in my throat, and the smug look I was sure my lips sported. Auron's eye crinkled as he smiled, and that made my grin widen. The laughter spilled out, tinkling off the forested crystals like chimes made of shells from the sea.  
  
Lulu looked at me strangely, as did Wakka. Auron started to chuckle as I lost my balance from laughing so hard and fell on his foot. I tried to stand several times, only to fall over again, my laughter still pealing off our surroundings. Auron's chuckle deepened, with everyone looking at us like we were crazy. An Al Bhed thief and a legendary Guardian, laughing like lunatics. If I had said, "Ish ebillibuddy okay?" I would have turned into the Shoopuf driver. I was sure of it.  
  
Auron sat next to me to help me balance myself the at my next feeble attempt to stand. He was still laughing, and so was I. It felt so good to laugh, bubbling all the stress away. If I had died right then, if not for guaranteeing Yunie's safety wherever she chose to be, I would have died happy.  
  
Finally, the pair of us calmed down. Auron had silenced himself to only a smile, though little giggles still escaped me. They did through the rest of the night, and I must admit, I was very happy.  
  
I woke about five hours before everyone else, and I had a plan. I was spilling with joy, and I had to do something with it, so I woke Yuna up. She blinked at me several times sleepily as I dragged her through the forest of Macalania to a frozen path of clear flowers I had seen. They were the strangest things, but I knew Yunie should have one for Tidus. They were eternal.  
  
I picked one and held it triumphantly under Yunie's nose, as she sniffed gingerly at it. It smelled like a blissful combination of all the fruits in existence, with an addition of...something. Something special. Yuna's face shattered her sleepy expression into a smile as she gingerly cupped the flower in her hands.  
  
"What do I do?" she asked me curiously.  
  
"Stick that under his nose, and go back to sleep near him. He'll smell that before he opens his eyes, and the first thing he'll see if you from beneath the flower."  
  
"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Yunie said with a smile as she hugged me. "Thank you, Rikku."  
  
"No prob, cuz! Be happy forever, you know?"  
  
Yunie nodded with a smile. "I know. Oh, and Rikku?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"When you want something good to happen, call the lightning."  
  
"Huh? Whaddya mean, Yunie?"  
  
"Just say, Crack and Boom, or something like that. You'll get a wish from the lightning."  
  
I didn't understand that at all, but from Yuna, what did I understand? A mysterious summoner of the far off Isle of Besaid, on a journey to save the world. Granting wishes. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?  
  
But, maybe this is a fairy tale.  
  
"Will do, Yunie!" I agreed.  
  
With that, I left her with the path of flowers, intending to get at least an hour of shut-eye myself. Arranging myself on a spot of soft looking earth not infested by gorgeous crystals, I lay down for what sleep the dawn wouldn't take from me.  
  
The next thing I was aware of was a cross between the smell of the flower I had given Yunie and something...strong. Not strong smelling. On the contrary, it was just soft enough...but it felt like physical strength, you know.  
  
I peeked an eye open to meet a bronze one. After that, I was aware of arms around me, the feel of body-to-body contact, and a flower shoved under my nose.  
  
I yelped and threw myself a few inches back in surprise, only for the grinning faces of Yunie and Tidus to come into view. Auron's arms were still around me, and the others thought he was still asleep. I knew he wasn't, and he knew I knew. I sniffed at the flower under my nose, recognizing it's clear misted petals.  
  
"It was a great idea, Rikku. Thank you," Yunie said.  
  
"Yeah," Tidus said, winking at me. "Worked like a charm. Now, why don't you get some more sleep? It'll be cold if you move, and I doubt Auron will mind if you stay."  
  
The tips of Auron's lips began to curve. Damn, I was caught in my own trap! Not that I wasn't happy about it, and I was indeed warm. I started to protest, but Tidus and Yunie had already begun walking away to the lake. Auron's arms tightened around me, and I felt like I had the butterflies dancing and the fairies singing in my stomach instead of in the forest around me.  
  
"I don't mind," he whispered languidly in my ear.  
  
I started to shake a little, but I'm not entirely sure what it was from. I scooted up against Auron, closer than I was before, with the flower pressed between us. "You're supposed to be asleep," I whispered back.  
  
"Hmm."  
  
I fell asleep too quickly that night. I wanted to savor every breath and moment of time with him, but the sleep came eventually. I know that Auron was still awake by the time I fell asleep, because his right index finger kept moving around my shoulder. I drifted into sleep with that thought in my head, more content than ever.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
"Ahhh!" I cried out as a bolt of stay lightning from the Thunder Plains zapped the ground several feet away. Auron was awake faster than Chronos, almighty got of time, could have said "Hi" in fast forward.  
  
Auron noticed the scorch marks on the once white crystal near us. He smiled a little and patted me on the shoulder, where he hand still lay.  
  
"Sorry," I whispered. "We should, er, move. You know, before the others get here."  
  
Auron nodded slowly and disentangled his limbs from mine. Or tried to, anyway. I had no idea how tangled arms and legs could possibly be, but I learned that day. As soon as we thought we were free, a hook on his scarlet cloak caught on the loop on the back of my shorts, and we fell, meshed together again. I sighed happily. Auron sighed grumpily.  
  
My eyes widened as his arms slid around my waist and his hands fiddled with my shorts. Wait, no, that wasn't right. The clasp on my shorts. My shorts. The clasp, trying to untangle our clothing. Clothing.  
  
Stupid mind. Why don't you just shut up? Tysh ed. To hell with the keywords that keep popping into my head...  
  
Auron sighed again, his breath tickling my neck, making me shiver. All this silly nonsense flooding my already flooded and not-very-functional brain, and THEN he has to go and breathe on my neck...  
  
When the clasp was finally released, we both tried to stand, a little wobbly from sleep. I was truly surprised when, as we started to move, another lightning bolt landed right behind Auron, and I ducked into his cloak, making him fall over. We were, once again, tangled.  
  
"Damned lightning," Auron swore.  
  
Secretly, I didn't mind at all. Not one bit. My usual fear of the lightning hadn't come back. Well, not to it's usual extreme, anyway.  
  
"We seem to stuck," I said dumbly.  
  
"So we do."  
  
"Do you...um...want to talk or something?"  
  
He chuckled lightly at what seemed to be a memory. "Speaking of talking, you talk in your sleep."  
  
I gasped a little. "I do?!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"...What did I say?"  
  
"I assume you'll know what it means, since I don't have a clue."  
  
"Well, tell me already!" I said with a grin. I hadn't really been prepared for him to tell me that I had made my wish without knowing it.  
  
"You said 'Cracka Cracka Boom'."  
  
  
  
~Owari~ 


	2. A Hate of Horses

Stupid horse.  
  
Yuna wouldn't stop grinning at me, Tidus kept winking at me, Wakka kept saying "Ya?" and Auron kept looking at me...funnily. Is that a word? Whatever. I don't care at this point.  
  
Stupid horse.  
  
It was all Ixion's fault, anyway. Well, Yunie's, too. She had to go and tell Ixion to grant me a wish, which I SO did not happen to know I made at the time. I hate horses. As much as I hate lightning. And a combo of the two is worse than...well, something really bad. It'll come to me eventually. Really.  
  
I grumped halfway into the Calm Lands, and then I grumped halfway out. My shoes stomped into the lush grass, which is greener than grass should be. The stuff just didn't look real. I was sure smoke was coming out my ears. I was mad, I was happy, and the only word I had to explain it was PMS.  
  
Stupid horse.  
  
Auron and I hadn't spoken much since Macalania, but I wasn't too upset about that. He was a lot warmer than he usually was, and that surprised me. This was a lot more normal. I guess I felt a little relieved about that. I couldn't help but feel like I was standing on a path of shaky ground with an earthquake, avalanche and tsunami headed for me all at once.  
  
Boy, wouldn't that feel lovely? Oh yes, indeed.  
  
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I whirled, ready to bite whoever was behind me. Who it was reminded me of how much I hate horses, or had I not already said that I can't stand them? Me thinks I was pretty clear on that area of the map.  
  
Auron stood behind me, a warm smile on his face. Woah.  
  
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked me with concern in his voice.  
  
BAM! The avalanche hit me like a rock. And I was six feet under, upside down.  
  
What fun.  
  
"Um, yeah, I guess so," I said, feeling like an idiot even as my thoughts were so...anti-horses. Yeesh, I guess my thoughts were idiotic too.  
  
Auron nodded at me and matched his stride to mine, though he didn't match my stomping. I looked mad, cute and scary at the same time. He just would have looked like a Tidus wannabe. I laughed at the thought, and the rest of the company gave me a quizzical look. Except Auron. Impassive as always.  
  
Well, not always. He has his moments, I suppose. If someone dies, maybe he'll blink a little. Or when the electrified aeon messes with his head some.  
  
Oh...Tysh.  
  
Was that all the night in Macalania was? A spell cast from a wish I didn't know I made? The warm smiles, holding me till I fell asleep, even after, and the caresses on my shoulder...none real? I could tell my stomach was going to fall into my toes in about six seconds and my heart was already in my throat. I swore out loud, (rather vulgarly) and ran lightly (Translation: Stomped loud enough to wake the dead and bring them back complaining from the Farplane) over to Yunie.  
  
"Summon Ixion," I told her flatly.  
  
"What?" she asked me, her light voice full of surprise. "But, why, Rikku? It will be hard to summon him if a great need isn't apparent."  
  
"You did it in Macalania, didn't you?!"  
  
"Rikku!" Yunie chided softly, and I realized I had yelled a little. "...That wasn't Ixion. Not really. Um, may we talk about this later? We're going to set up camp soon when we arrive at the lodge. We'll talk tonight, alright?"  
  
I smiled in relief, grateful that Yunie had patience and it wasn't Ixion. (Not really.) My steps lightened as I began to walk again, ignoring the stares I was getting from everyone (especially Tidus. Auron was impassive.) due to my outburst at Yuna. Well, what was I supposed to do? Um, okay. Skip that question.  
  
I started grinning like a fool after about twenty steps, my thoughts just about as sober as I looked. If it wasn't Ixion, who the hell was it? I mean, a wish can't just be granted like, you know, presto, can it? Hm, that's a nice thought. Granting wishes at the sound of a little 'presto'. I wanted to be able to do that.  
  
Auron continued to watch me. I kept shifting so I was walking on his blind spot, trying to avoid his gaze, but nooooo, he had to go and walk a little more to the right just so he could stare some more. My mind kept yelling at me to say, "I'm flattered you're staring at how everything sticks to me from the after effects of our beloved Mother Nature's new and improved 'Static Electricity Effect' (and fresh from the Thunder Plains!), but could you tone your ocular down a bit? I'm feeling a teeny weeny uncomfortable."  
  
Tysh ed, whether it was Ixion or not, I hate horses.  
  
I soon discovered, as I stomped oh so merrily across the Calm Lands, that the sarcasm wasn't helping my mood to improve at all. Gee, go figure. Er, yeah. No sarcasm. Sarcasm bad. Though sarcasm interesting, sarcasm bad.  
  
Once again attempting a shift a little farther to the right, I realized just how far I had drifted from the rest of the group. Well, Auron had drifted too, but he WAS following me. Um, I think. Maybe I was just going left more than I thought I was? But then I'd be following him. I thought he was following me? Wait a second. I'm not making any sense, am I? Er, I meant to do that. Honest.  
  
I snuck a glance over at Auron, only to see a Marlboro trying to grab his hips. Yeah, yeah, I know that didn't sound right. But this is a Marlboro. And not (I hope) female. Shaking my head, the seriousness of the situation not quite registering in my muddled up brain, I tossed a couple grenades in quick succession behind Auron. He yelped and spun, his blade already out, slicing it deep into the Marboro's skin. The thing never had a chance.  
  
I looked at the Marlboro in puzzlement as it drifted and faded into many shining pyreflies. I wondered what it was like to die, and go to the Farplane. Was every single fiend we had fought a person who had refused to believe they had died? That was such a sad life, or death.  
  
Suddenly all the sarcasm left me as I continued on with the rest of the group, my efforts of trying to avoid Auron's gaze forgotten. Was life really that harsh? A simple statement of denial leading to an afterlife filled with hatred and morphing into monsters, only to be killed at the hands of the very people who was trying to save the world from you. Where were they when you needed saving from the other fiends? And what about those fiends?  
  
As I trudged through the Calm Lands, my feet began to take heavier steps, as if effected by the melancholy of it all. I only then realized that Spira was in six feet under and falling. The earthquake chose that moment to show up and rock my world, turning all of my views on life upside down. I prayed the change was temporary. It's not fun to go from happy pappy to fall down and die depressed, you know? And it didn't help matters that I still had no idea what was going on with Ixion.  
  
Stupid horse. This was going to be a long day.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
Rolling over in my "sleep", I contemplated what had happened in the past two days. Was it even possible that the world could change so much in two days? Um, no, that isn't right. Is it ever possible that MY world can change so much in two days? If it is, it sure as hell ain't supposed to.  
  
Okay. Back track.  
  
Auron gets all nice all of the sudden. I start feeling happy and comfort him. I get giggly. He gets giggly. What the hell is WRONG with this picture? Or is it just me? Tysh ed, don't let it be me. I'm crazier than pops if it's just me. Anyway. I give Yunie a flower to do something nice for Tidus. They moved me from my bedroll to Auron's, and shove one of the very same flowers under my nose. I wake up in heaven and get laughed at. Auron comforts me til I fall asleep. I wake up only to find out that the lightning is harassing me and limbs really do get tangled impossibly. Auron tells me I talk in my sleep. Oh, what fun! Then today, I find out it isn't the horse that was harassing me, not really, but Yunie won't tell me what is it. I can't tell who was following who between me and Auron today, and then I get all philosophically grumpy.  
  
I hate horses.  
  
Rolling over again, my hip bone smacked onto a rock from beneath my bedroll. I groaned and cursed under my breath in pain. Why, of WHY, did I have to choose here of all places for a bedroll? I might as well have set it up in a quarry.  
  
I opened my eyes grumpily only to be stared at by Auron's own russet eye. Argh! He's looking at me again!  
  
"You should go to sleep," he murmured tiredly.  
  
"Tell that to my head!"  
  
"Go to sleep," he said again, aiming the words in the general direction of my forehead and rolling over. I grinned despite myself. Oh, that man was a walking enigma.  
  
Enigma? The heck? Where did a word like that come from? I sighed, burrowing my face deeper and deeper into my pillow, wondering what the next day would bring.  
  
Stupid horse.  
  
A/N: I felt like writing some more on this, even if this chapter is shorter. Let me know if I should keep going! ^.~ 


	3. Rocks

I couldn't seem to nuzzle my head far enough into my pillow. Dawn would be coming soon, and I hadn't even fallen asleep yet. Auron's command of my forehead wasn't working very well. Grumbling, I slapped my pillow and rolled onto my back, wincing as the rock I had now become familiar with hit my hip...again.  
  
Sadistic thoughts swam in my head, considering the possibility of killing a rock. Maybe I could take Auron's Masamune and whack it a good one, and then...  
  
"I thought I told you to go to sleep," the quiet, gruff voice of the red clad swordsman beside me interrupted my thoughts. I smacked my hands over my eyes.  
  
"Don't you think I tried that already?" I grumbled at him.  
  
"I would assume so. What did you do to pass the time?"  
  
"Thought of killing a rock."  
  
"Mm," was his only response as his eyes closed again.  
  
Several minutes of silence passed, each second like a gong in my eyes, and my eyebrow got this funny twitch I didn't know it could do. The silence was starting to kill me, and I didn't want to go to the Farplane just then, you know?  
  
"Erg!" I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down. Luckily, none of the others woke up, but it was still close. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I hit my pillow again and stood up. Heavy footsteps followed me, and I turned as soon as I left the tent to stare are Auron incredulously.  
  
"You actually SLEPT in those boots of yours?!"  
  
He gave a nonchalant shrug. Typically Auron, but at least he didn't give me a blank look or something. It was better than nothing, this bored reaction.  
  
"The need for escape could have arisen."  
  
Throwing my hands up in the air in frustration, I contemplated the existence of rocks just as much as I thought about Auron. What purpose do rocks have, and why the hell was it so hard to get a reaction out of Auron? The man was so predictable, and wouldn't that rock under my bedroll be fun to smash?  
  
"Mamma mia!" I said grumpily as I stomped in circles around our camp.  
  
"Frustrated?" an amused voice asked me airily. I whirled.  
  
"You...you....you behemoth! Go back to sleep!" I cried furiously at him. Why did he have to go and interrupt my thoughts? If I didn't even THINK evilly, what would happen then? Ohhh, yes, that rock wouldn't be the only thing to get a beating.  
  
"Behemoth?" he asked me.  
  
I pointed my finger in the general direction of the tent and stormed off, the stars twinkling merrily above me. Since when was my life allowed to get so messed up on absolutely zero notice? Tyed ed! No fair!  
  
Auron raised an eyebrow at me. I knew if he had been Tidus, he would have looked at the tent and said, "There's a behemoth in there?!" and run charging in valiantly, only to get a beating from Lulu, who needs her beauty sleep.  
  
The thought made me laugh, and all other contemplations and worries bubbled away. I giggled like a loon and had to sit down to keep from falling down. Auron's expression grew more puzzled than ever as I tried to hold in my chortles of laughter, desperately not wanting to wake the others. Auron chuckled in front of me as he knelt down, bringing himself to my eye level.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"Oh, not much. Just thanking the stars you aren't Tidus at this moment. I'd hate to see what he'd do if I called him a behemoth."  
  
Auron grinned at me, leaving me to look at him dumbfounded. I'd never seen him grin before, at least not that I could remember.  
  
"Vile creatures, those are. I think Tidus is more like a Zu, myself."  
  
"Those things are stupid!"  
  
The grin widened. "Exactly."  
  
I started to laugh even more, and I felt better than I had in a long time. Auron and I sat in companionable silence for a while, watching the stars and awaiting the dawn.  
  
***  
  
Forget horses. I hate chocobos.  
  
Rename the chocobo near out camp "rooster" and you get the idea of what happened when dawn actually came. Having nothing to take my lack of sleep and frustration out on, I continued my sinister thoughts of slaughtering that stupid rock underneath my bedroll.  
  
As I packed my bedding up, I spied the rock underneath. Grinning wickedly, I picked it up and deposited it into my pack. It would be very fun to mutilate later.  
  
Auron looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "Storing away rocks to throw at people?"  
  
I snorted. "To throw at you."  
  
The other eyebrow raised. "What did I do to you?"  
  
"Mr. Eccentric," I grumped underneath my breath in Al Bhed. Louder and in the normal tongue (but still quietly) I said, "I hate horses."  
  
"Mm. I gathered as much."  
  
I whirled on him. "Huh? How'd ya know that?"  
  
He grinned wolfishly. "You talk in your sleep, remember?"  
  
Oh, yes. That rock would die tonight.  
  
Our conversation stilled til I thought we were sitting in something akin to Jell-O. I hoped it was strawberry. I like strawberries.  
  
Um, right. Back to what happened. I had no real reason to be as frustrated as I was, except that little neat corners of my mind continued to crash on me every five seconds. I might as well have been a machina system upload for all the thoughts bashing into each other inside of my brain.  
  
As I left the tent, I touched the metal bar to help disassemble it. I jumped back with a cry as I was shocked, landing flat on my rear. I shook my finger vigorously in the air, whimpering and sticking it in my mouth occasionally. Auron chuckled and tried to muffle it; needless to say, that did nothing to help improve my mood.  
  
"Stupid friggin static electricity hanging on to me from the Thunder Plains because it shocked me so many times and really got me peeved and then it wouldn't even let me stand up and now it's gonna go and shock me and make me fall over and my finger hurts and..."  
  
"Are you going to pause to breathe?" Auron asked with an eyebrow raised...again. How did he do that, anyway? I can only raise both, and just look like a moron when I try to only raise one.  
  
"No!" I snapped as I stood up. Yunie was regarding me wide eyed with her mouth slightly agape.  
  
"What?" I demanded, not meaning to snap at her as I did at Auron.  
  
"Maybe we should talk later, okay Rikku?" she asked me in her usual quiet voice.  
  
I nodded. "Yeah, alrighty."  
  
Storming off, I wondered what the heck she wanted. And why had she looked at me with that expression when I got shocked? Yunie's a strange person, you know? I don't think she'll ever change. Always smiling, always an enigma, always managing to sick her Aeons on me. Stupid Ixion.  
  
And yet, she had said that it wasn't Ixion (not really) who had granted me my wish. Well, who was it, then? Did this shock-and-knock-Rikku-over incident have anything to do with it? Gods, I hoped not. Not fun. No way. No how.  
  
Auron came up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't look so stricken. Yuna isn't going to kill you."  
  
I laughed a little. "I know, I know. She just might wound me and then slaughter me when no one's lookin', right?"  
  
He nodded, his expression full of mock seriousness. "Right."  
  
***  
  
As we began our journey to the beginning of Mt. Gagazet, I wondered why Auron was acting so strangely. It was completely not like him. Was it this wish I made, that night in Macalania and in his arms, that I didn't even know I had made until I woke? I desperately hoped it wasn't. I didn't want his little nice conversations to be only works of magic and not genuine. That wouldn't be fair at all, now would it?  
  
Desperately trying to ascend the slippery slopes, I pondered even more how the Rhonsos could have believed Yunie had turned traitor. Yes, the rumors had been spread by the Maesters, but really! Wouldn't they know Yunie enough by now?  
  
No, I suppose not. Things don't work that way.  
  
I put forth all of my energy into watching my footing. I guess I was blind for a few moments, because I slipped on a rock and began tumbling down the steep slope it had taken us over an hour just to ascend halfway. Auron, being the slower of the group right down with Kimahri, was directly behind me. Can you guess where this is going? Yup. I landed right on him.  
  
Together, we tumbled down the incline. He had tried to keep his footing, yes, but a hundred pounds slamming into you on a giant tilted ice cube is hard to keep your footing on.  
  
In a gigantic mass of flailing arms and legs, both of us tried to grasp as some niche in the slope, something to keep us from tumbling into an abyss below. Okay, so it wasn't an abyss. But it was definitely a hole. A big one. Really really!  
  
Nothing reached either Auron's or my hands, and we continued to fall. Gradually sliding toward the left, we took a tumble off the narrow pathway into what must have been a thirty foot drop. Snow followed us, pillowing out around our breathless bodies. Snow had broken out fall, but so did snow keep us from returning.  
  
We were stuck.  
  
Just the two of us.  
  
Auron.  
  
And me.  
  
He grumbled as he untangled his limbs from mine, surveying the cave we seemed to be in. The dim twilight was rapidly fading and preventing much further sight.  
  
"We won't be able to do much with this fading light. We'll have to wait until morning to leave."  
  
Oh, thank you for that wonderful news, Auron! I'm simply jumping for joy.  
  
I sighed and sat down, nodding my head at him. So, this was it. We were stuck.  
  
And do you realized what caused this?  
  
A rock.  
  
  
  
A/N: Whoo! Third chapter! Thanks for the reviews! *hugs Rikku* (The author, not the game one. ^.~) You especially! And Spaz? Take care of that cat! *grins* Anyway, thanks also and always to Nefalkariel, Aurikku Chick, Sky Genjustsu and SephirothsGoddess for reviewing the last chap. (And to all of you who reviews the first one ^^) I appreciate it! Let me know anything you'd like to happen, k? Ja ne! 


	4. Shock Til You Drop

I inhaled as much air as I possibly could and let it out in a defiant shriek. Auron dropped his sword (he'd been cleaning it) and looked at me, the surprise clearly written on his face.  
  
"This...is...so...screwed....up!" I cried.  
  
I felt like hitting something, and hitting it hard. I figured the rock I was keeping in my pack wouldn't break slow enough. Maybe if I hit Auron...wait. Me, little. Him, big sword. Who wins here?  
  
"I agree it's odd that we're stuck here."  
  
"It's not just that! Everything turned upside down these past few days. Like, not fair!"  
  
"I do hope your screaming helped your frustration as much as it alerted every single Gagazet fiend to our whereabouts," Auron told me sarcastically.  
  
"I do apologize," I snapped. I sighed and sat down, then looked at him a little sheepishly. "Sorry. I feel a little better, actually."  
  
He nodded and resumed cleaning his sword. I was shivering a little, but I'd be damned if I'd show him that. Well, I wouldn't mean to, anyway. I could make a list of everything that caused this a mile long. Well, three items long. But hey, if I wrote it really big, it could work out to be a mile! I think.  
  
Lightning. Horses. Rocks.  
  
I hate all three.  
  
Well, rocks make good stress relievers, though. I still hadn't gotten a hold of Auron's Masamune to pulverize the small stone that had attached itself to my hip so wholeheartedly the night before.  
  
To my dismay, my teeth started to click together faintly. I know the noise would only increase. We had a small fire, put together and held by the small amount of magic I had learned from Lulu. Well, that Yunie had learned from Lulu and taught me in case something like this happened. The nice thing about fire spells is they don't need anything to burn. Nifty stuff, fire is.  
  
"Burn, baby, burn," I muttered quietly to myself with a small chuckle.  
  
"Come over here," Auron said softly from the other side of our meager fire.  
  
"Um, okay," I said as I made my way over to him.  
  
I yelped as his arm snaked around my waist and plopped me directly onto his lap while his other arm wrapped his coat around both of us. My body felt like glass that had just been shattered, going from ice cube mode to melt close to the cutie from across the fire mode. Every natural disaster and more that Nature hadn't come up with yet hit me right then. I sighed contentedly despite myself and relaxed into the embrace I had just been welcomed into.  
  
Why did it feel so different this time than that night in Macalania? We had SHARED a bedroll that time, for Yevon's sake! Tysh ed. What the hell is wrong with me?  
  
Auron rested his chin on top of my head as he leaned back against the cave wall. "Remind me to throw you in the fire before I do this next time. You're an ice cube."  
  
I rolled my eyes and laughed a little. "And whose fault is that?"  
  
"Yours. You're the one who wears that outfit you do, if you can call it that."  
  
I blinked. Bitten in the butt by my own choice of shorts. "Alright, you've got me there. But you sleep in your boots!"  
  
"You talk in your sleep."  
  
"You're a behemoth."  
  
He turned me around to face him. "Tidus is a Zu."  
  
I chuckled, gazing into his russet eye. "Yuna is too nice."  
  
"Wakka has a speech problem."  
  
"Lulu needs to put a shirt on."  
  
"Kimahri is too stoic."  
  
I rolled my eyes and coughed. "Hypocrite."  
  
He looked a little sheepish. "Right. Okay. You have too much energy."  
  
"You baby your arm."  
  
"It's warm in the sling!"  
  
"It's warm in here," I told myself in Al Bhed.  
  
"Yes, it is," Auron responded, also in Al Bhed. I jumped, ramming my head into his chin, which despite the fact that I was facing him, was still rested on my forehead. I fount myself staring at his neck through most of our "conversation".  
  
"You speak Al Bhed?"  
  
He rubbed his jaw and nodded. I winced and ran my fingers along the edges of his jaw. "I didn't break it, ya big baby."  
  
"Who falls to pieces around lightning?"  
  
"Auron?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"We really need to shut up."  
  
"Hmm. Alright."  
  
I buried my head into the crook of his neck, nestling into the warmth and praying he would mind. Auron did have a sword that was almost five feet long. I didn't want to mess with that kind of force, would you? Besides, it was really nice here. I found myself gradually getting closer to Auron whether he knew it or not, and I completely took advantage of him. Er, wait. Took advantage of my time with him. You know what I mean.  
  
Auron sighed and my body rose and fell with his breathing. I synchronized my breathing with his without really meaning to. I felt his arms wrap around my back, snaking their way to grip my shoulder blades lightly. His head's weight on mine increased as he relaxed. I blinked my eyelids heavily and decided to sleep as well. No sense staying away if we could throw insults everywhere anymore.  
  
"'Night," I murmured to him sleeping.  
  
"Good night."  
  
***  
  
I woke up and noticed that the stars had shifted. The moon was almost over the opposite horizon it had started on, and Auron head had slipped and fallen to my shoulder, leaving us cheek to cheek. I giggled a little as he moved, the stubble on his chin tickling my neck. He grunted in his sleep and scooted closer to me still, if that was even possible.  
  
I sighed remorsefully, knowing that this time there would be no lightning when I stood up. Our limbs wouldn't get tangled again, and I wouldn't have the pleasure of thinking he was fiddling with my shorts instead of trying to unhook our clothing.  
  
Wait.  
  
What the HELL am I thinking?!  
  
I shook my head vigorously, forgetting how close Auron was. My head banged painfully into his and he snapped awake, catching me as I came close to slipping off his lap.  
  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow," I babbled incoherently while clutching the side of my head I had so rudely awakened Auron with. He laughed at me.  
  
"Bubble brain!" I snapped at him. "That hurt!"  
  
"You need some better insults, you know," he told me as he rearranged me on his lap. I tried to help, but my foot slipped on some snow at the cave floor and we both tumbled over, landing by the hands of cruel fate in a very comfortable position.  
  
"Mmph," I mumbled as I tried to stand. Auron's arms kept me where I was as he murmured a little into my neck where his head now lay.  
  
"Where're you going? It's more comfortable this way anyway."  
  
"A-alrighty," I said, cursing myself for the small stutter my words included so generously.  
  
Hey, I've got reason! I'm in the arms of a man...okay, okay, we won't go there. I shouldn't go there. It's much safer ground where I am right now.  
  
Auron's lips brushed against my skin. I shivered.  
  
Check that! This ground ain't safe at all!  
  
I wanted to badly to lean into his lips, lean in closer to him, have him kiss me for real and not just as he was shifting or in his sleep. I direly wished I could tell what he was thinking. It would have helped a lot.  
  
After several minutes his breathing thinned and became a smooth, steady rhythm. He shifted slightly, causing his lips to flat out press against my neck this time. I squeaked.  
  
"Don't do that, Auron," I whimpered to myself.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
I squeaked even more and jumped back a little. I had honestly believed him to be asleep.  
  
"Because you...me...I mean, because you should be asleep!"  
  
He gave a light shrug when my eyes met his. I didn't think, and I don't know why. I suppose I didn't think about not thinking, either. I just leaned forward until our lips met. It was his turn for his gaze to widen. I didn't notice then but as soon as my lips met his, a lightning bolt struck not too far away.  
  
I drew back quickly, confusion controlling my brain. What had I just done? I stood, desperately unwilling to look at him after kissing him, and made my way to the very edge of our little "camp". As far as I could get from him, I looked at the stars. My mind was swirling with both the confusion of my actions and the feel of that man's lips on mine. I hated it. I loved it.  
  
I lightning bolt struck directly behind me. I cried out and whirled. Another launched itself to the ground behind where I was now face. I turned again. I really needed to find that rock and smash it. Really, really badly.  
  
Auron came up to stand beside me, regarding the scorch marks curiously.  
  
"Rikku..."  
  
"Don't say anything, please," I told him. Or I begged him. Either way, I was embarrassed more than Tidus would have been if he had been caught spying on Yuna getting dressed the first day he had met her. I wished Wakka was here to kick me in the rear. I think it would have helped.  
  
He placed his hand on my shoulder and drew me back into his embrace, wrapped his coat around me once more.  
  
"I'm sorry," I said softly.  
  
"Don't be," he told me as we sat down again, me finding myself in his lap. I liked the position, but not after what I'd just done. I felt miserable. I understood now what Pops meant by thinking before you do something really bubble headed.  
  
I finally brought myself to look at him. He drew his lips down and kissed the corner of my mouth. I turned my head in surprise, planting his lips fully on mine. Stupid! I should have thought before I moved!  
  
Another shock of lightning zapped less than a foot away from my side. I yelped and burrowed as deeply as I could into Auron's chest.  
  
I only realized then that the lightning struck whenever I felt an emotion or a shock strong enough dominate most of my thoughts. Back in Macalania, when we tried to stand, I didn't want to, and then lightning his...and then when he was fiddling with my shorts...then I kissed him, and I was confused, and then he kissed me, and...  
  
Tysh ed, what is going on?  
  
  
  
A/N: Abrupt ending. At least, I thought it was. But anyway! Are you getting an idea now? Huh? Huh? ^_^ Sorry about the bashing of everyone and the major OOCness of Auron, but just sit back and enjoy the moment, okay? Pretend it's not Auron if it bothers you that much. I'll be the one to write the completely unreasonable Aurikku, k? *grins* Feedback, maybe? 


	5. Overdrive (x2)

SpazKit! Thank you for the picture of Auron and Rikku (or Rikku clutching the life out of Auron) and Ixion. I'm glad I could make you smile! ^.~  
  
WARNING: Majority of chapter written while wired on three shots of coffee. Sorry for typos and things that don't make sense, but my brain is moving so fast and I've got the jitters so bad I don't know how I've typed as much as I have.  
  
Chapter Five - Overdrive (x2)  
  
Auron was gently shaking me awake. I mumbled incoherently to myself and waved my hand in the direction I thought he was. I heard him make a muffled sound and the shaking was gone. Belatedly, my foggy mind hoped I hadn't hit him. I hadn't forgotten about Masamune. It looked like a bad way to die.  
  
Rolling over, I stubbornly kept my eyes shut. Screw the lightning, screw the snow, screw Auron.  
  
Wait. That didn't come out right.  
  
Struggling to remove my mind from the gutter, I grabbed some snow and flung it at Auron. I heard his muffled protest, but only curled up deeper into a ball. I did NOT want to give up my sleep just yet. Sleep...so precious, and it sucks when you do it alone.  
  
That didn't come out right either. But you know what I mean. It's better to wake up with someone by your side.  
  
I gasped as something wet and VERY freaking cold slipped up the back of my shirt. My eyes flew open to meet a russet eye, belonging to Auron, complete with a triumphant smile.  
  
I jumped up as fast as I could and stuck my hand up the back of my shirt, desperately trying to get all the snow out before I became a Rikku Ice Cube. Not fun.  
  
To make matters worse, Auron started to laugh at me. The man has some great audacity, for a stoic man to only blinks when someone dies. Letting out a frustrated noise, I retaliated by hurling a snowball of my own, whacking him in the side of the head.  
  
"Mmf!" Was his only response as he dipped his hand into the snow again.  
  
I realized I wasn't going to get out of this snow fight dry or warm.  
  
Cupping my hands into the frozen beauty beneath me, I hurled a hunk of snow at the guardian in front of my, catching him just as he threw his at me. It beaned me in the butt, to my embarrassment. I turned scarlet as I got ready to throw another snowball, but was stopped with Auron's laughter.  
  
I could tell he hadn't planned to hit me where I had, but he found it damn funny now that he HAD hit me. I think the only place that could have been worse was my chest, but I would have smacked him for that one. Smacked him good, Masamune or no. Well, maybe I'd sick my pet rock on his Masamune first.  
  
The funny thing is, Auron couldn't seem to stop laughing. This man is very strange. Very man like. Very strange. I rest my case. And men think we're mysteries? I snorted at the thought. Yeah right.  
  
His laughter infectious, I found myself smiling to grinning to laughing like a loon. As I rocked back and forth in a crouched position, attempting (vainly) to give my aching stomach muscles a rest, another snowball hit me in the ribs, knocking me over. Auron soon followed the snowball, planting him on top of me.  
  
All humor lost, I stared at him incredulously. This man was plum crazy. Yunie was mad looking to him for guidance, at least I thought so.  
  
"Auron?" I asked softly, curiously, and without understanding.  
  
He sighed and rested his head on my shoulder, his nose brushing my neck as his weight pressed me into the snow beneath us. "Hmm?" was his lazy reply.  
  
"We should see if we can get out of here," I said dumbly, not thinking of anything else quickly. I cursed my mind for the umpteenth time.  
  
Auron sighed again, his chest rising and falling against me. It was a very nice feeling, and I didn't want to move. I was very happy that he wasn't mad at me for my little stunt yesterday.  
  
His lips pressed softly against my neck for a moment. I tired not to inhale, my surprise written clearly on my face, I was sure. My mind, the very same mind that was still in the gutter, was whirling. I don't even want to say where it went, and I hope it took a shower before it came back. I needed something to distract me, and quick.  
  
Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Auron.  
  
Argh! Plan not working! Plan B....Plan B...  
  
Auron turned my head to face him, his eye looking at me curiously. I clamped my own eyes shut.  
  
"Look at me," he told me in a simple statement, just like he had that day at the Moonflow. However, this time his motives were very different reasons.  
  
Gradually, I peeked a single eye open, avoiding his own.  
  
"I'm not going to bite."  
  
I squeaked and slammed my eye shut again. Wrong thing to say, buddy! Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks.  
  
"Rikku..."  
  
Lighting. Horses. Rocks. Lighting. Horses. Rocks.  
  
His lips pressed against mind, tugging on my lower lips. This time my eyes slammed open, confusion whirling all around with the enjoyment. I was only dimly aware of a lightning bolt striking nearby.  
  
He pressed his lips more firmly against mine, seeming to demand an answer. Trying not to squeak again from delight or the trouble of my mind in the gutter, I kissed back, if tentatively. Auron ran his hand through my hair, playing with the braids at the nape of my neck.  
  
Lightning! Horses! Rocks!  
  
Auron pulled away slowly and dropped a bit of snow on my forehead, and in my surprise, I opened my eyes. I wondered if that was what he had been trying to do all along.  
  
"I suppose we should be going."  
  
Euphoria gripped me at the remorse in his voice. I giggled like a moron, smiled like Tidus and kissed Auron teasingly on the lips before hopping happily up.  
  
"Yup-o!" I said, my hair bobbing happily behind me. Auron looked at me with a puzzled expression. Immediately, my expression turned regretful, even if I had a trembling smile held barely in check.  
  
"Hey!" I cried suddenly, looking at Auron from head to toe. Well, from eyes to neck, but that's close enough.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Where's your collar and glasses?"  
  
Auron's hands went up to his eye, then to his throat, realizing he was missing both articles. Right away I sprang around the camp, bouncing and peeking around corners.  
  
"Guess they fell off in the fall," I said slowly, looking at Auron to try and gauge his reaction. He shrugged.  
  
"I'm sure we'll find them eventually."  
  
I nodded. "Right."  
  
Climbing out was harder than I had thought it to be. The first step I took, I tumbled back down into our little cave. I grumped as I stood back up, rubbing my sore rear end and shooting daggers at Auron's amused expression.  
  
"You're going to have a harder time than me getting out, you know!" I snapped.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"  
  
"You weigh more than I do, and I've got that sword to carry."  
  
The other eyebrow followed the first and he gave me an innocent smile. "Why don't you carry my sword then, to even out the weight? I can get out faster then."  
  
My eyes widened. Tysh that behemoth of a man! Who did he think he was? Why, I oughta....  
  
My diabolical thoughts were interrupted by the enormous weight suddenly smacking itself onto my back. I gasped and tipped over, Auron's Masamune landing on top of me. I groaned and struggled to breathe with the weight on my chest. Friggin behemoth!  
  
"How...the hell do you use this thing?" I demanded of him, shoving the massive blade off me.  
  
"Very carefully," he told me as he helped me stand. I blinked as he pulled to hard and flung me at his chest.  
  
"Jeez, overestimate my weight, will you," I said, rolling my eyes. "I don't weigh as much as Kimahri, you know."  
  
He chuckled and pulled me into a hug. "So I've noticed."  
  
I sighed and pushed off from his chest, grasping his sword and putting the shoulder strap on. Flailing my arms and bug eyed, I tried desperately not to tip over again. Falling on a sword would hurt. Like, du-u-uh.  
  
Auron tried and failed to hide the amusement that crinkled around his eye. I shot a death glare his way, muttering under my breath in Al Bhed about how behemoth's aren't supposed to use sword. Stupid man.  
  
I tried getting a hand hold on the sides of the cave, but that wasn't working too well either. I groaned as I fell over again, and looked at Auron, hoping he would get the hint that I wanted a damn boost. He just looked at me again, and I felt like crushing the rock. Unfortunately, I now realized that Auron's Masamune was just a bit too heavy for me to crush the stone with. Ah, well. I'll beat it to death somehow.  
  
After falling over three more times, I walked heatedly over to Auron and punched him in the chest. That brick hard, gorgeous chest that at the moment I would give anything to see unclothed. Slapping myself mentally, I tired to banish the gutter thoughts that fluttered "innocently" into my brain as he didn't even move when I hit him again.  
  
"Would you mind giving me a boost?" I asked airily.  
  
"But then I'll have the weight of you AND my sword," he protested, the amusement still glittering in his eyes.  
  
"Alright, alright, I get the picture! I'll stop poking fun at you," I told him, pouting a little. He leaned down and kissed the pout that remained on my lips, causing me to blink in surprise.  
  
"Okay, then," he told me, and picked both me and his sword up easily, tossing me over the edge of the snow bank that had encased us. I gasped and tried not to fall back in, shocked by how easily he got out. Lithely, he climbed out and was soon sitting beside me, almost exactly where we had fallen down in the first place.  
  
I sputtered at him for a couple of minutes before words finally formed. "Why the HELL didn't you just do that last night?!? I demanded. I was only dimly aware as lightning struck some five hundred yards away.  
  
A shrug was the answer to my demand. "Where would the fun in that be?"  
  
Fun. Fun. FUN?! Argh! I had to scream, kick something, and smash that rock. I would have beat Auron senseless if I actually thought it would hurt. But no, those brick hard muscles wouldn't...  
  
Okay, wrong path to take my thoughts down. I stood up angrily and flailed as I tipped over backwards with the weight of his sword. He laughed and took the sword sheath from me, and then we proceeded to return to where the other must be. We both knew they wouldn't have gone far without us.  
  
Placing a hand on my shoulder briefly, Auron took the lead. I stayed close behind him as much for warmth and a pillar to clutch desperately if I should slip, but also as an object to shoot death glares at. The journey back would go a lot faster if I had something in mind to kill.  
  
***  
  
I gasped as Tidus slashed his sword as Seymour. How had the Guado gotten all the way up Mt. Gagazet and past the Rhonsos? A hand flew to my mouth as I realized what the demon must have done. As Yuna took a hit of magic, all my shocked turned to fury as I rushed into battle with Auron next to me.  
  
Auron swiftly pulled his sword into a flawless butterfly sweep, arcing it to the right. One of Seymour's blades caught Auron's shoulder, and Auron gasped in pain. I knew the wound was deep, and I knew I had to do something.  
  
I whirled on the Guado, his form even more demonic than the last time. My blood felt different, like I had lightning pulsing through every corner of me. My hands clenched in fists, my eyes narrowed and every muscle flexed, an electrified wind gathered around me. I wasn't even aware of what I was doing, I just wanted that man down. Now.  
  
I shot my hand forward, lightning springing from it and striking from the sky. Vaguely I heard Yuna cry out in surprise behind me, but I was so wrapped up in the power I wasn't aware of much else. The lightning was like a drug, and I just let more and more of it come, bolt after bolt striking Seymour's changed form. He cried out as he fell, tumbling down the side of the mountain. And then, the power was gone, and suddenly I was aware of the world around me again. I couldn't feel my blood flowing anymore, and I was dizzy as hell. Swooning a little, I was caught by Auron as Yuna looked at me first in shock, then with a smile.  
  
"I'm glad you two are alright," she told us.  
  
"What just happened to me, Yunie?" I asked shakily as the others gathered around. "Is it just me, or did I just take Seymour out by myself?"  
  
Yuna nodded. "We had removed some of his strength, but not enough. Do you remember your wish, Rikku?" she asked me. I nodded slowly while Auron looked at me with a puzzled expression.  
  
"Ixion only gave you your own magic, set into motion with strong thoughts and feelings. I can help you learn to control it so it doesn't go haywire again."  
  
I nodded again, slowly, the world going fuzzy around me. "Gosh, I'm tired..." I muttered slowly. I barely felt Auron lifting me up into his arms and the rest of the party walking on. I felt Wakka's strange gaze on me, Lulu's strange gaze on Yuna, and Auron's arms periodically tightening around me. Sleep and tiredness from my new magic claimed me soon. So, I could use the lightning as a sort of overdrive, hmm? That was funny. Not funny. You know what I mean. I sighed as I nestled into Auron's scarlet cape kimono thing, whatever it was.  
  
Stupid horse.  
  
  
  
A/N: ARGH! I don't know if I like this chapter or not. Good, bad? Please let me know. Sorry for the long lack of updating, but I lost my muse for a while and didn't get online very much. I'll try and get the next chapter up soon. 


	6. Oy!

If I could lift Auron's sword, I would beat him with it.  
  
My head hurt so bad, Jecht would have been grateful to have any sort of hangover he had been given. God, is that sunlight bright, or did a vampire just bite me?  
  
Mm. I wonder if Auron's a vampire? I could handle that.  
  
Wait. We're still on Gagazet, aren't we? Ya know, big place with big furry proud abominable snowmen with horns that just got annihilated? Yeah, that place. Isn't that place supposed to be cold? Like, the opposite of warm? The opposite of what I am now? Cold? Okay, I think I've established that enough.  
  
Carefully, I peeked an eye open, and my gaze was met with a neck. Hmm, but it was a sexy neck. Waaaait a minute. I am NOT a vampire. NO. Holy Shoopuf rides, wouldn't that just figure? I groaned as I peek another eye open, only this one saw the scar that trailed down the neck. So, it was Auron. But the scar was beneath me. Which meant...  
  
I was on top of him?  
  
"Auron?" I asked, my speech slightly slurred. I didn't get a response. Raising my arm, I poke at the exposed skin I found there, fascinated by a mole I had just discovered on Auron's collarbone. He shifted, but still didn't wake up. Sighing, I decided to make more urgent moves to get the man up.  
  
I pushed my knee down in hopes of pressing his stomach, but I think I was a bit too low. Auron jolted up with a quick "Oy!" and curled around himself and, well, me. His russet eye stared my own green swirls down until I felt my confidence fall through Spira all the way to China, whatever the hell that place is.  
  
"Oops?"  
  
"Forget it!" he snarled. "No little 'oops' is gonna get you out of this one, girl!" With another growl, he tackled me, sending me three feet away and into a cloud of snow.  
  
TYSH! It ain't warm no more! With a cry, I hopped up off the freezing ground, tripping over a log for firewood and falling straight onto Tidus's bedroll. Evidently, everyone was sleeping in late.  
  
"Oy!" Tidus cried, sitting up straight. Erm, oops? I think I just hit him in the same place I hit Auron. I stood up quickly as Tidus looked around with a befuddled look on his face, and I smiled sheepishly at Auron. He didn't buy it.  
  
With another growl, he launched himself at me, and in my fear, I think a lightning bolt struck a large peak of snow nearby. Of course, it wasn't kind enough to strike my attacker, so I continued to flee for my life, tripping over rocks and people as I went. Gods, for all I know, I probably tripped over a horse.  
  
Argh. Don't even remind me.  
  
I charged down the mountain, half running, half slipping, until I skidded to a halt in a small alcove. I dove behind the ledge, praying Auron couldn't see me from his viewpoint.  
  
"Rikku, do I have to come in there and get you?"  
  
Eep! He's not supposed to know where I am!  
  
"I know where you are."  
  
Eep! How can he read my mind?  
  
"Your mind is so easy to read at this distance."  
  
Shit! Not nice!  
  
"Rikku, payback is in order."  
  
Nuh-uh!  
  
"Come out or I'll bite you."  
  
Whoo! He is a vampire!  
  
Wait. Since when did Auron get this kinky?  
  
"Have you been asking Tidus for love hints?" I sent out in the direction the mind stalker was coming from. I would call him a mind reader, but if he could read minds, I was in deep chocobo poop, and that would just be nasty, so we'll call him a stalker for now.  
  
My response elicited a chuckle from him. As he rounded the corner of the ledge and effectively cornered me, he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Maybe."  
  
Uh oh. Lightning. Horses. Rocks. Lightning. Horses. Rocks.  
  
He leaned forward and placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth, and I knew I was in LOTS of trouble as soon as he did that. "What if the others come down here, and see us..." I started.  
  
"They won't," he murmured confidently, his mouth sliding closer and closer to mine with each tiny kiss. Oh, dear. This is not good. Well, it is good. Very good, in fact. But it's still bad. I think. Mm, never mind. If he keeps kissing me like that, I don't care if I go to hell.  
  
His tongue flicked across my lips, and I parted mine a little bit more willingly than I should have. He scooted closed and pinned me to the side of the mountain, and with each sweep of his tongue the kiss grew deeper. I stifled a moan that almost came out. I was WAY too unused to this kind of thing.  
  
His body gradually pressed against mine, certain parts a bit harder than others. I blushed at this, grateful that his eye was shut so he couldn't see. I had never done any of this before, and boy, it was screwing with my brain.  
  
Several lightning bolts struck in quick succession a mile away, but I didn't care. The sensation was growing in my body, and Auron pressed against me did nothing to help. His lips left mind and trailed to my neck, nipping and giving the exposed skin many open mouthed kisses. This time, the moan leaked through, but I prayed it was quiet enough so he didn't hear it. Ixion must have heard the prayer though, because hear it he did.  
  
His mouth crushed on mine, and he pressed harder than ever, and I knew if he kept this up I'd be a helluva lot less innocent when we got back to camp. I shuddered as his hands caressed my hip, and whimpered a little when he pulled away, wondering what he had planned for me next. I opened my eyes to be met with a smug smirk.  
  
"Payback's a bitch," Auron said sweetly as he turned swiftly and walked back to camp.  
  
I groaned and huddled in my little corner. If we hadn't been on a friggin glacier, I would have taken a freezing shower. I decided to stay out there for a little while longer for good measure.  
  
I also decided never to knee a man there again.  
  
  
  
A/N: Whoo, plotless chapter. Sorry it took so long, I kind of ran out of muse for this story. Spaz made me get it back, though. I know I'm stalling for where the plot is gonna go, but, like, deal with it. *grins* Anyway, let me know what you think. ^_~ 


	7. Legendary Shish Kabob

Cracka Cracka Boom Chapter 7: Legendary Shish Kabob  
  
"Rikku, are you okay? Your face is all red!"  
  
I was met with the concerned eyes of Yunie as I reached camp once more. "Uhh, I think I got sunburned."  
  
"Not in this weather, you didn't. You can't get sunburned when it's this cold."  
  
I glared at Auron. Why did he have to be such a jerk? First he makes me realize that I do, in fact, have hormones, and then he turns against me? "It's a special kind of sunburn!" I shot at him, glaring daggers. A lightning bolt struck Auron's bedroll, which was VERY close to Auron, making both him and Tidus jump.  
  
"Wow!" Tidus said, his eyes widening. "You're aim's getting better and better, Rikku!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" I growled as I stomped over to my bedroll. "I missed."  
  
I got a small amount of satisfaction from the way Auron gulped. It didn't however, soothe my nerves. I groaned as Mr. Legend walked over to me and glared at him.  
  
"If you don't want to join Ixion in the hell I will put him into, I suggest you don't speak," I snapped. I was way more pissed than I thought I was just a few minutes earlier. How could the bastard embarrass be like that? I hate men.  
  
"Rikku, I really think--"  
  
"I don't care what you think."  
  
Auron's eyes widened at my waspish tone. He confused the hell out of me, so much. How could he act like there was...something...there, and then go and do something like he had in the alcove?  
  
"Rikku, you're being a baby," Auron began, wincing as a lightning bolt hit a few meters from where he was standing, but he wouldn't move. "Yuna doesn't have time for you to be absorbed in your problems."  
  
"It wouldn't BE a problem if I wasn't falling in love with you!"  
  
Holy. Shit.  
  
My eyes widened as I clamped a hand over my mouth. Did I just say that out loud? From the look on Auron's face, I did. From the look on Tidus's face, I should kill myself. From the look on Yuna's face, Ixion had been telling her things.  
  
"Um, I mean, uh, er...that is to say, um...yeah...you know, I....I mean, um..."  
  
Yuna shook her head and smiled at me. That stupid all knowing smile that meant she'd help me remove my foot from my mouth. Tysh! This really, really SUCKS.  
  
Okay, Rikku, think. You can say something more eloquent than you just did, right? Right. Good. I looked around in a panic. Tidus had started to giggle, and was being hushed by Yuna, who was having a hard time containing herself.  
  
Were they...laughing at my feelings?  
  
Electricity bounced throughout the air, ricocheting off every single object of my confusion. Mainly, my friends. It never hurt them, though; I don't know why. I wasn't in control of my emotions enough to stop it, but even so, all it did was shock them. Auron more than others. Okay, so it zapped him. About once every five seconds.  
  
I stared wide eyed at Yuna. How could she laugh at me? Yuna seemed to know where my thoughts were going and shook her head. "Look at Auron, Rikku," she told me, still giggling.  
  
Auron stood before me, not having changed. I couldn't tell a difference, except...  
  
Waaaaaaaait a minute.  
  
Was he...drooling?  
  
I stood closer, poking at his cheek. Oh, yes, he was indeed drooling. I waved a hand in front of his face and received no response, not even a blink. Ixion chose then to smash a light bulb through my ear and into my brain.  
  
"He's in shock!" I cried, gripping Auron's hand, raising it high, and dropping it. Not only did he let me, but he barely wobbled. His eyelashes were also gathering frost. He was, quite literally, frozen with surprise.  
  
I couldn't stop the evil smirk from forming. "This holds promise," I murmured to myself. "Embarrass me, will he..."  
  
"Um, Rikku?" Tidus said.  
  
"What?" I asked, glaring at him. It was finally my turn to be evil, and he was NOT going to stop me. A lightning bolt in the distance emphasized my unspoken point. Perhaps he realized this, or perhaps he was just shaking from the cold. We'll say it's me though. The more my ego gets boosted, the more Trouble Auron is in. Capital T. It's more fun that way.  
  
"I don't know what he did to you, but now would NOT be a time to take advantage of him."  
  
"Why not?" I asked, faking a pout. Let them think I'm submissive. The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they are when you kill them. So to speak.  
  
"Him, big sword." Tidus demonstrated by throwing his arms wide, taking in all of Mt. Gagazet. "You, tiny girl." He chose to model this with less than a centimeter between his index finger and thumb. "Big sword smash." He brought his fist into his palm. "You get me?"  
  
I called a bolt about an inch from Tidus's nose. "Pee wee girl, use thunder, smash primitive party pooper. Shrimp girl then use big sword," I gestured with my arms to take in all of Mt. Gagazet as he had done, "as a lightning conductor to fry Mr. Legendary Jerk. Small girl skewer him with big sword, cook him over big pit. Mean people make good shish kabob. You get me?"  
  
You could have fit a baseball in Tidus's eyelids. I chuckled to myself as Yuna tugged Tidus away. Hmmm, well now. I look at the frozen Auron with a positively demonic look in my eyes.  
  
It was fun time. 


	8. Is it a Boy?

Cracka Cracka Boom Chapter 8: Is it a Boy?  
  
I smirked evilly as I walked to catch up to the others, Auron's pants and sword slung over my shoulder. The thing was damn heavy, but that was okay. I didn't mind. I felt too good to mind.  
  
I love discovering things.  
  
You know how you get when you feel triumphant, and the grass...er...the snow seems whiter, the sky bluer, the air fresher? Yeah, that great feeling? I feel like that. And you know why I feel like that?  
  
Old guys have hormones too.  
  
I snickered evilly to myself. Unfortunately, I'd have to call it even with Auron for now. Buut...if being even meant we could make out like that more often, I could go for it. Raging teenage hormones weren't so bad.  
  
Until they get you pregnant, anyway.  
  
Tysh! Why did I have to go and ruin that for myself? I sighed, and the Masamune seemed to get a little bit heavier. I did not want Auron's kid. He'd turn out like Tidus, I could just feel it in my gut. Or, maybe I was hungry. Oh well. Not that it mattered, anyway. I'd just zap him with your friendly neighborhood lightning bolt and I'd feel better, right? Right.  
  
"Get me pregnant, will he...." I muttered to myself.  
  
"WHAT!!!!" Tidus roared.  
  
I squeaked, jumped, and dropped the Masamune. Tidus stood in front of me, shock registering on his features.  
  
"I come to get you back and make sure you don't kill him, and what do I hear?! Argh! That's just wrong! Auron's a god damned cradle robber!" He blinked at me for a minute, and got a curious look to his eyes. "Is it a boy?"  
  
"ARGH!!!!!" I wailed and chucked the Masamune at him. What else was there to do at a time like this than cry my little Al Bhed eyes out?  
  
***  
  
I was escorted the rest of the way back to camp on a grumbling Tidus's shoulders, since I had refused to walk. Every time I heard him murmur something about women, I whapped him on the head. I did NOT need this, damn it! I sniffled.  
  
I hate men.  
  
"Don't take your PMS out on me, you...."  
  
Lightning. Horses. Rocks.  
  
"spoiled, pea brained, lightning loaded..."  
  
Lightning! Horses! Rocks!  
  
"conniving little weasel of a..."  
  
"I GET IT!" I shrieked, and Tidus jumped at the bolt that danced in front of him.  
  
"Um..." he said nervously.  
  
"'Um' my ass!" I snarled, hopping off his shoulders, hoisting the Masamune, and marching back to camp. "I hate men. Hatehatehatehatehatehatehate...."  
  
"You sound like your drunk when you talk like that, you know."  
  
I hate that voice now. So arrogant. He thinks he's better. So smooth. He thinks he's won. So sexy. He realizes I have hormones.  
  
"I hate you, Auron."  
  
"I know," he said with a smile. He stood there next to Tidus, apparently fully mobile now. That wasn't what caught my attention. He wasn't wearing pants.  
  
He followed my gaze. "You took them, remember?"  
  
"That explains a little bit," Tidus said thoughtfully. "If it's a..."  
  
"It's not a boy!" I cried and called down a wall of lightning in between us. There, that should hold them. Ignoring Tidus's squeaks and Auron's....well, it sounded like laughter, but I'll pretend it was sobbing...I began walking back to camp. That lightning had better hold for a long, long time, or I'd...I'd...bite it.  
  
I raised my head heavenwards and thanked whatever gods there were - with the exception of Ixion - that I didn't have braces.  
  
The snow was now deep enough to reach mid calf, which meant my socks were soaked. Greeaaat. Wet socks. My eyes narrowed and I smirked malevolently. What if I....and then I....? Not bad, Rikku, I told myself. Not bad at all.  
  
"Hee hee."  
  
I was giggling "sweetly" when I arrived back at camp, and I suppose the only reason Lulu wasn't worried when she saw me is that she could just send an Ultima up my nose and I'd be bye-bye. The others, though...well, Kimahri still looked sane, and Yuna was pretending to be asleep, but Wakka was telling me to "Quit laughing like that, ya?! You need a pitchfork to go with that giggle o' yours!" so loudly it was futile for Yuna to even try. All I needed was a violin, a guy with a slightly sinister, matter of fact voice, and a state named Georgia and I'd be all set.  
  
"Oh, the devil went down to Georgia; she was looking for a soul to steal," I sang to myself, looking pointedly at Wakka. He whimpered a little bit, and I smiled. Was I really that scary, ignoring that I could fry him and eat him alive? Nah, I didn't think so.  
  
"Where's Auron?" Yuna asked, looking pointedly at his sword. Well, it was more like his pants, but I'll say it was his sword.  
  
"Occupied. He and Tidus will be here shortly. If Tidus has a boy, it's not my fault."  
  
***  
  
Everyone was sleeping soundly. The stars twinkled merrily overhead, and you could see millions more than you could in a lower elevation. I smiled a little to myself. I would treasure the look on my companions faces forever when Wakka asked Tidus if he was pregnant. I loved Wakka dearly, but he wasn't the brightest French fry out of a happy meal.  
  
I rolled over and snuggled deeper into the depths of my bedroll, wrapping the warm flannel goodness around me tightly. My unbound hair lazed curls around my neck, and it tickled my nose. My wet socks were held in a wicked grip inside my hands as I warmed them up. My payback was not yet finished. It didn't care if me and Auron were even or not; at least, if he had to pay me back, I could probably get a kiss out of it.  
  
It's a little sad, I know, but one day I'll get a real kiss. Not today, though. Vengeance is too sweet and close at hand. I smirked, savored the warmth of my bedroll for one last minute, and stood, wincing as the cold air raised goose bumps on my exposed skin. Making my way over to where Auron was sleeping, I knelt down.  
  
The socks in my hands were warm, wet and squishy. Perfect. I slipped my hands under his bedroll covers and made a beeline for his boxers. Okay, okay, I told myself. I don't want to get close. No, no, no. Icky, icky, icky. Drop them in and run away. My fumbling hand had reached his waistline before he caught my hand in a vice-like grip and flipped my body on top of his.  
  
"I don't want to know what's in your hand and what you're doing down there with it, but for the love of God, wait until we're married."  
  
My eye bugged larger than a blitzball, I was sure. "Why you.....you.....behemoth!"  
  
"Lame, Rikku. Lame. The least you could have called me was sexy, or dashing, or irresistible. There's no need to call me big and ugly."  
  
"And stupid!" I shot back.  
  
"You're the one with your hands in my pants."  
  
"You're not wearing pants."  
  
"How observant of you. And what did you plan to do to me in my sleep, hmm?"  
  
"This!" I cried, and pressed the socks against his hips triumphantly. He gasped and let go of my wrists, and I scrambled back over to my bedroll and dove in, whirling around so I could get one last glimpse of Auron fishing around in his boxers for what I had dropped. I snickered at the thought that they had fallen in, and promptly pretended to fall asleep. 


End file.
